Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Firefox 2 Support Discontinued

One of the most important things to ensuring a safe browsing experience is the Web Browser you use (see our security tips on what you can do). At UW Credit Union, we try to support as many browsers as practical. Our group of supported browsers generally represents over 99% of the traffic coming to our site. However, our supported browsers have recently changed.

As new browsers come out, it is up to the provider to decide how long they'll support their older versions. Recently, Mozilla announced they'd be discontinuing updates and fixes to its 2.x version of its browser Firefox. This significantly affects the security of the browser going forward as new vulnerabilities will not be fixed (nor will anti-phishing support continue).

We recommend anyone using Firefox 2.x to upgrade to version 3.x of their browser. Besides being more secure going forward, it also has a number of performance and usability enhancements.

No, it is unlikely in the short-term that Web Branch will have issues working with Firefox 2.x. The real issue is that it isn't going to be maintained as a secure browser as Mozilla won't be patching it going forward. Our supported browser list is both a list of browsers that are tested and known to work with Web Branch as well as (at least to a small extent) an endorsement of browsers that are "safe" to use for sensitive transactions like e-commerce and online banking.

I don't think FF 2 has anywhere near the number or sheer severity of security flaws that Internet Explorer 6 does.

In reference to UWCU's stance on Firefox 2 support, Eric Bangerter states: "The real issue is that it isn't going to be maintained as a secure browser as Mozilla won't be patching it going forward."

I think you just put your foot in your mouth here Eric as UWCU still supports IE 6. It has been know for some time now that not only is IE 6 an in-secure browser, but the browser itself is over 8 years old!

As a loyal member of UWCU for over 12 years now, I would REALLY appreciate it if UWCU STOPPED spending the additional internet development money needed to support IE 6.

The development time & cost savings alone would more than make up for the additional call center support that would most likely be needed to help IE 6 users upgrade to Firefox 3 (or, gulp, IE 7 or IE 8).

Or, just just like UWCU's position on FF2, simply don't support IE 6 at all and instead start supporting QuickBooks!

We'd love to drop support for Internet Explorer 6.x. It does take additional resources to make sure our sites work well in IE6 and, because it is older, we have to make adjustments to accommodate it.

However, there is one key difference between IE6 and Firefox 2.x, Microsoft still supports IE6 with security updates. While Mozilla came out and stated they will no longer patch FF2, Microsoft is supporting IE6 through July 2010 (if not beyond).

Because IE6 still has a relatively large userbase, dropping support just because we'd like to isn't an option. When Microsoft officially drops support for IE6, we will move quickly to no longer support it.

We recommend all our members use the latest version of their browser of choice. In general, the latest versions are faster, offer more features and are more secure. However, we understand that upgrading, for some members, isn't always an option (in a workplace, for example).

Whatever needs to happen... This is the best banking website that I have used! Upgrades or no... UWCU is better than associated, us bank and a few other locals that I have experienced. Keep up the GREAT work!

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